"Advertising a company like Santos, which is a big coal seam gas company in Queensland, on the side of vehicles of the police whose job it is to enforce the law – including, I might add, against protesters who don't like coal seam gas – is a really bad idea," LTGA president Drew Hutton told the ABC.
However, Queensland Police commissioner Ian Stewart said Santos was one of several sponsors of the "stay on track outback" campaign that was targeting tourists with caravans on remote roads.
He said the vehicles had safety messages emblazoned on them and that sponsors names were included. Santos contributed $40,000 to the program, he said, adding that other police agencies throughout Australia acknowledged sponsorships in similar ways.
